When the issue of wine screw caps versus corks comes up, the message often seems to be this: metal caps are more practical, but people can't let go of the romanticism of corks. A recent article on Gizmodo says, forget romanticism. Corks are better in every way. Are they right?
Writer Rachel Swaby points out that cork has been successfully stoppering bottles for thousands of years. Its unique physical properties allow it to compress to half its size and resist decay, even when submerged in liquid for centuries. For long-cellared wines, the oxygen stored inside the cork also helps keep the small amount of sulfur dioxide within the wine from disintegrating and becoming smelly.
Oddly, the article doesn't mention cork's main drawback: cork taint, or the presence of the compound TCA, which gives "corked" wine an unpleasant wet cardboard taste. Screw cap wines don't suffer from this problem, which the cork industry says affects 1.2% of bottles. (A Wine Spectator study of 2,800 bottles found that 7% were tainted.)
• Check it out: Why Cork Is the Most Amazing Material in the World to Keep Your Wine Tasty at Gizmodo
What do you think? Do you prefer wine with corks, or are you a fan of screw caps?
Related: Wine Bottle Closures: Cork vs. Screw Cap
(Image: Flickr member Sam Howzit licensed under Creative Commons)
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Man-made "cork" solved the problem of cork taint. This will leave more cork for cork FLOORS! And yes, cork is amazing. Warm in the winter, cool in the summer, naturally anti-static and antimicrobial---it is a miracle wood.
It makes me crazy to see all these kitchens with hard tile flooring (whole houses now), when cork would be so much better for the legs and feet.
SunnyBlue - in arid parts of the world cork flooring curls and gets dusty within five years. Also, when the daily temperatures are over 90F for eight months a year, a hard tile floor is cool and comfortable.
My dad buys much finer wines than I'm willing to pay for and he tells me many of them are moving to screw tops. My cheap wines still use corks although about half of them are fake.
I like the ritual of uncorking a bottle of wine and will miss corks if they're replaced by screw tops. But I guess you can't argue with the bottom line.
Our go-to white wine recently switched to screw cap from cork (prior to this we had an entire case go bad). I took a bottle to a friend's house and I noticed her eyebrows when she saw the screw cap. She tasted the wine and said how surprised she was. She assumed it was a low quality wine.
It really is something I can't get out of my head, but when I see screw top wine, I walk away. It could be amazing but part of wine to me is uncorking that bottle.
And like was mentioned earlier- I though plastic man made corks were virtually perfect. No corked wine, no cheap looking screw top and lasts forever.
actually, another good reason to use real cork is to save the cork plantations in the Mediterranean region! they house a very diverse community of animals and other life forms and they, developers are just waiting to put their hands on them!
Wine industry dork here-- my policy is that screwcaps are equal or superior to corks for all wines except those that are intended to be aged for an exceptionally long time (think old school Barolo) in which case the slight porousness of cork is preferable to the complete seal of a screwcap.
Few things are more frustrating than showing a customer a bottle of wine that is perfect for their needs and having them turn their nose up at it because it has a screwcap. (No offense to any commenters, I understand the appeal of corks! Just workplace venting...)
plch hit it, the spoilage - be it 1.2% or 7% may be a viable eco-tax for the privilige of preserving a unique ecosystem. But I also understand the benefits. Kingfisher's comment hits the balance. Cork for appropriate use, screwcaps/artificial ditto. That said - i do like the romance of popping a cork.
(should read "I understand the benefits of the alternatives.") - eep.
In Australia screw caps are becoming ubiquitous and I love them. They are so practical that I see a screw cap as a benefit when picking a wine to take out with me. My partner who works in hospitality really dislikes man made cork because they are generally more difficult to remove.
On a recent trip to the states I was surprised by the clear preference for cork, even man made cork, and the sense of romanticism attached to it. My friend even used corks to hold the seating cards at her wedding.